As always, I'm going to copypasta the new stuff, this is excluding the above IGN link.

Quote:

In terms of how the game is open, and the experience of playing the game, one example I can give is in Detroit. It's early on in the game and as ever you have objectives: when you've done A you can move on to B and C.

The thing is while you're doing A you can come across something, and can hack it and shut it down. If you do that then right away one of your colleagues will call you and ask, "Jensen, what did you just do?" You say: "I don't know. There was this switch and I shut it off."

But as you progress and do the other objectives it becomes clear that what you've already switched off is actually the final objective for the map - only you did it at the start. So basically we support players that maybe go left when they're meant to go right, when it makes sense, as much as we can.

---------

For instance when you go up to a passer-by, point your gun at him and he cowers. For us it's more like, "You have a gun. You carry a responsibility. You can fire it, but there are consequences."

You're not just going in with a rocket launcher and having people not notice. People will say things like, "You have a gun! Remove it from my face!"

-------------

There are between 1100 and 1300 different props in the game, each of them honed and designed to look like something that would be used (and useful) 17 years into the future: from microscopes and electro-photo frames all the way to cars and bus stops.

To add depth to this universe too, there will be a hundred different fictional in-game brands, whose logos you'll see everywhere - from the butt of your gun, to a flashing video-screen on the side of a skyscraper to the side of a cargo crate at the city docks.

Eidos Montreal truly is taking the trappings of near-future capitalism that science-fiction has been chuntering about for so long (Tyrell Corporation in Blade Runner, Weyland-Yutani in Alien etc.) and using them to bind together a seamless world in which you simply cannot sense the creative cracks.

----------------

On whether the Deus Ex menu music is coming back...

"To be decided. It's still in discussions. I can say that there probably are a few spots in the game where you might hear an NPC whistle it. There's a very subjective argument that goes back and forth. Some people say it's awesome, some people are like: 'Errr? It's a little dated.'

"I don't want you to feel that you need to defend it, because I do like the theme, but I can tell you that there's at least one guy on my team that's saying, 'No!' I think it works perfectly for the year 2000. I don't know if it lends itself to our game. I'd be surprised if it doesn't worm its way in somewhere though."

-----------------

On multitools and proximity mines...

"We didn't go into Multitools because we wanted to make hacking more prevalent. So we decided that all the unlocking of things like that is done through hacking. As for proximity mines we have different templates where you can put different types of item together - you can attach one grenade to a mine template and stick it on walls and things like that. We have other things that are similar to what's been before too, like the meds and some of the nutrients."

On gas grenades, frag grenades and a few others...

"We have gas grenades, we have frag grenades... we have a few others."

------------------

On whether we'll still have that good old-fashioned Deus Ex wobbly aim...

"No, not for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. What we decided to do is start the game with the player skill alone - we don't want to diminish it. And after that it's upgrades."

-------------

On how the sparring dialogue gameplay works alongside the usual question and answer...

"It's not complex, that's not the right word. But it's deeper than Mass Effect. In Mass Effect you can skip through dialogue, and ours isn't the usual way to do conversation.

"We wanted to have a form of social fighting, as you can see with Tong in our demo. You need information, and you have to read the character in front of you to deliver the right response to continue, and win the round. You have three rounds, he will have three counter-attacks. You can succeed, fail or have a neutral response. If you restart the conversation, it will move on to a completely different one. You can't learn the path. It's complex to code, very complex!"

------------------------

On the look and feel of Deus Ex Detroit...

"The interesting thing about Detroit is that it looks quite a bit like contemporary Detroit; this is really all about anticipating what the world will be in 2027. We've designed stuff like objects which recharge electrical cars - we've invented them, and looked at where billboard technologies are going. So it's a lot like today's Detroit, with those added layers grafted over it. Plus there are those interesting and very modern-looking buildings."

-------------

On the look and feel of Deus Ex Shanghai...

"Shanghai's Heng Sha is a lot more into the trans-humanist thing. It's a lot more accepted there - it's the Silicon Valley of all cybernetics. The dual layer is inspired by a mockumentary we saw quite a while ago, which appeared to be a real documentary about Hong Kong..."

"In the game the idea isn't that it's the poor at the bottom and the rich at the top; the bottom used to be the Mecca of cybernetics, a lot of the headquarters of the great labs and manufacturing plants are there, it's just that when they built above it they chose a different architectural direction.

"So above they have new universities and new headquarters, but the bottom isn't a slum - there isn't an old school dichotomy. We put a lot of stuff in the game, like you'll see those student-types from the upper level coming downstairs at night to party, and hit the bars and brothels."

----------------

On how a prequel can look more technologically advanced than the first game...

"We released the first screenshots and people said, oh man - it's a prequel that's set twenty years before Deus Ex, and it looks more technologically advanced. Well the thing is that if you look at the computer screens or television screens in Deus Ex, then our real-world monitors are already bigger, flatter and of a higher resolution than that in the modern day.

"What do you do with that? Don't get me wrong we are doing this game for the fans and everything, but you can't just make it for the fans. It makes no sense. It's undebatable. It would be weird to make 4:3 ratio screens in the world, just because we want to fit in with the first one."

They aren't making it for the fans, but they still want their money obviously. Why else would they use the Deus Ex name? The crowd they are primarily pitching it to have no real knowledge or attachment to the universe, so why not just make it a generic futuristic sci-fi world with the same themes where they could make up whatever they wanted? It's the same thing Bethesda did with Fallout 3.

It has the same gameplay style, the same themes, and a similar setting. I don't see why it shouldn't be part of the series. It's not like you can create a sequel to a game like Deus Ex 10 years after release and market it exclusively to Deus Ex fans who still play games, which would be like 5% of the total video games audience.

It's not like they're demanding that the original game be taken off shelves and replaced with their game. Sucks how people are criticising an upstart dev like EM for taking things in their own stride when the car crash that was Invisible War was invented wholly by the very same minds that made Deus Ex.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be part of the series, I'm saying if they want to make it part of the series they should adhere to the conventions and canon of the universe, not just make up random crap because they think it looks cool.

It's not like they're turning it into a space opera about alien impregnation. It still follows the same ideas and themes that drove the first game. I know I wouldn't enjoy a Deus Ex game set 17 years in the future where they still drive 90s-era cars, where blogs never existed, soldiers wearing Gulf War-era outfits or even no cell-phones.

What I do appreciate, is that EM is trying to build the future with the same zeal that drove the original Deus Ex. While not everything is going to be as it is predicted in Deus Ex, the game's events do follow a well-researched canon. Not all of it was perfect, and the flaws are becoming apparent 10 years after the game's release.

EM is trying to update that with the ideas and visions for the future that have come to fore in the past decade, after the release of Deus Ex. I couldn't care less if they outright broke the canon, I already regard the two games as being different universes altogether (it's a bit of a given, after Invisible War).

Some points I haven't seen mentioned yet here, thanks to GetWellGamers on SA:

- There's an inventory, and they said you had to manage it with items having relative sizes, which is cool.

- One of the loading tips talked about "Stop!worms", which is apparently a consumable that would let you essentially pause the countermeasure timer when hacking.

- You can eavesdrop on or initiate conversations to get side-quests, which you'll have a logbook/journal to keep track of.

- Dialogue menus are presented in general terms a la Mass Effect, but when you highlight the response it previews the entire response, which I really like. I hated having to guess the specifics of what I'm about to say.

- I didn't get any sort of "mini-game" vibe from the dialogue, not even any real time limit like Mass Effect or Alpha Protocol. They just hung out 'till you answered.

- You can drag bodies away to hide them. Minor, but I always liked doing it in DX. Also enjoyed tossing them into things/places that would gib them- hopefully the trend continues.

- Looking around corners/cover looked really great. You can really see a good bit down the way from where you're peeping into without exposing yourself. Again, minor, but it's one of those things that always bug me.

- Vent-crawling is still a staple of infiltration, which for those of us fond of ghost runs is a welcome addition.

- People react if you're walking around with your gun unholstered. Civvies will put their hands up or flee.

And from ImpAtom's impressions, also on SA:

- Codes can be entered manually, but if you have the code, it pops up on the side of the screen.

- There seemed to be multiple paths through the levels, but we'll see how that actually pans out.

- NPCs talked and gave you hints about stuff without having to talk to them. In general, it seemed pretty good to me. I did think the dialogue sequence they showed off could have used more interaction, but I'll survive.

- You change outfits if you're going to be dropped off in a combat area, but you can still fight in the trenchcoat and such in public areas. The coat is just to hide your cybernetics/mechanical parts better. You basically put on something besides sensible combat gear when you're in public areas and put on something logical when you know you're going into combat. They told me that you don't suddenly change when you get into a fight or something.

- In the demo I saw, the guy got pretty badly injured. It looks like a fairly standard health regeneration system, so if that gives you hives, I don't think there is much you can do.

- I didn't like the takedown animations in the slightest, which was probably my overall largest complaint about the demo. The cover system felt weird, but that was more my preconceptions about Deus Ex then actual flaws with the system, at least from the demo.

- Everything else looked... well, basically pretty Deus Exy. I don't think it's going to win over the people who complaint that (x) (y) and (z) just isn't Deus Ex because it's different, but it seemed to be doing a lot more right then it did wrong. I thought the bomb-explosion aug looked pretty damn ridiculous though, and not really in a good way.

Gameplay look's awesome in my opinion. It provides a nice, satisfying, reminisces of the original game, while at the same time provides new, modern, and enhanced RPG features that could potentially revolutionize the whole hybrid RPG/FPS genre.

My only complaint are the graphics. The textures aren't exactly "2010 standards", and Adam's beard looks somewhat... abysmal compared to the rest of his face.

You can't judge gameplay of a Deus Ex game by a 2-minute trailer. But to me, it gave a good impression. I like the look and feel of Human Revolution.

Frankly, much was reminiscent of Deus Ex; walking through the streets; climbing through ventilation shafts; crate platforming; and - hold your breath - picking up and dragging bodies. I mean, that's great if they can imbue the player with enough creative agency as Deus Ex, and from what we've seen, I think that the developers get the DX formula.

What really irked me was the amount of, ah, cinematic influence in every melee sequence; if it's really like that, then it's VATS all over again. Granted, I wish that they'd show more weapons that aren't exclusively weapons (riot prod, gas grenade, pepper spray, etc.) I'm also a bit disappointed that we didn't see any UI interaction, like browsing through computer directories and hacking; but I guess it's still early, really.

I'm also a bit disappointed that we didn't see any UI interaction, like browsing through computer directories and hacking; but I guess it's still early, really.

While there's no word on the sort of UI there will be, the security computer interface (in its current state) was teased for a split-second in the CG trailer where Adam tries to access the security computer before it denies access. They put out a screenshot of the real thing out too.

There's been a couple magazine articles detailing the weapons (and how they're based off of real predictions regarding weapons technology in the future). Link 1, Link 2.

When we last spoke with Warren Spector, director on the original Deus Ex, about what he hoped to see from Deus Ex: Human Revolution (the prequel he has nothing to do with), he said he wanted Eidos Montreal to retain the element of gameplay choice that fans loved so much about the original. After having seen a demo of Human Revolution at Gamescom today, we're eager to inform Warren that his hope has been met -- Human Revolution looks as if it may even surpass the original in terms of its depth and gameplay choices.

The demo we saw was actually shown to us three different times -- it's the same exact scenario, just played through with entirely different approaches. Here's the setup: about 90 minutes into the game, you're given the task of infiltrating the morgue at a police headquarters to retrieve a chip embedded in a dead terrorist's head. This terrorist is part of a group against transhumanism (people augmented with cybernetics, which is the product Sarif Industries, your in-game employer). But here's the catch: the terrorist himself has cybernetic implants. So he must be some sort of plant within the terrorist organization -- but a plant by who? The government? You're on a mission to find out, which is why it's imperative you get access to the morgue and get that chip.

You have a few different ways to reacquire the chip. The first we see is probably what many gamers will instinctively do -- blast their way inside. That's exactly what our demoer does; he basically runs in, guns blazing, and shows off some of the cool tactics at your disposal. As he makes his way through one of the police offices, he picks up a copy machine and throws it forward to use as cover. Once behind it, he's able to position himself to blindfire at cops (who are using their own desks as cover). We also see how you can use your X-ray vision augmentation, which highlights exactly where enemies are within the environment (we could see several waiting behind some cube walls).

After that, we get a demo of some weapon choices, like enhancing the pistol with explosive bullets (each weapon has multiple possible upgrades). Another cool example of this is the mine template -- a schematic that lets you combine a mine with any sort of grenade you have in your inventory. And if you were wondering, yes, there are also weapons that just stun your opponents instead of killing them. Anyway, our demoer makes his way through the station, unfortunately taking out plenty of cops along the way. He uses mines to disable sensors and eventually makes it to the morgue, gets the chip, and escapes out a lower exit into the sewers.

The level is then restarted. The next goal is to use communication skills to, essentially, charm your way inside. The neat thing about taking this route is that you talk to a lot of guards and learn a lot of the backstories between you and them. In one part, you have to convince an old cop friend to stick his neck out for you -- you have to remind him of your history together. It's still possible to "lose" this part -- if you're not convincing enough you'll have to resort to other means (see tactic 1) -- but in our case, the friend gives in and gives us the access we need. And though we don't spend time doing it, you can use your time in the station to find out all sorts of extra information (by digging through peoples' email at unmanned workstations). Anyway, it's relatively painless from then on to make it to the morgue, grab the chip, and walk out the front door. Without an army of policemen in the way, we're able to avoid the sewers altogether.

The third and final demo is all about stealth. Our demoer shows how you can walk to the back of the station, use a strength augmentation, then pick up a dumpster and place it next to the security fence to climb safely over. Not that you have to use a Strength Augmentation -- you can simply climb to the top of the roof and make your way in from there. But then you'd have to make your way through multiple floors before getting to the morgue, which seems a lot more difficult. Anyway, once inside, your Cloaking Augmentation makes you entirely invisible to the guards (in fact, if you're careful, you can even steal things off of their desks). However, at one point there's the need to bypass a security door to progress further, which requires you to hack into it. Normally, it would be impossible to break the code, but by using a Cranium Augmentation, your mental skills increase and you're able to break the code with a minigame of sorts (though I should stress it's more of a mind teaser than a time-button-pressing game -- it keeps you in the experience).

It's neat to see that, even with all of the Augmentations you have available, you can still assign augmentation points to specific skills. And each skill has its own tree, meaning there's going to be a lot of room to progress your character just the way you like. Another nifty demonstration in this stealth scenario involves a sequence in which a guard passes safely through a section with infrared lasers (because they're tuned to recognize him, turn off, and let him by unharmed ). By stunning and then carrying him, you can make it through this section without setting off any alarms as well. Also cool is the ability to disable cameras and infrared sensors using EMP grenades. With those tactics our demoer eventually makes it to the morgue, gets the chip, and then sneaks out through the sewers (to avoid backtracking all the way through the upper floors again).

So those are three disparate ways of obtaining the chip from the police station -- but as you can probably discern, each strategy can be deviated from at any time. Getting spotted while attempting stealth is likely to result in a firefight, as will getting into a heated face-off with one of the guards while attempting Persuasion. Just this small window into the choices and paths available in Human Revolution is enough to have me really excited about the gameplay possibilities in the full version. And that's without even discussing the incredible atmosphere and audio design that wowed us during this and the E3 preview. Few games have me excited as Deus Ex Human Revolution.

Interesting. I'm glad that they would appear to have sidestepped one of the major gripes a lot of people have with visually similar conversation systems in ME/AP/DA2/TW2 by previewing the full dialogue for each choice on mouse-over. Hard to be sure from such poor quality footage, but visually it looks to be pretty. The controls looked to be a bit clunky, but that could be a legacy of the fact that he was obviously using a gamepad.

It's no secret I've had my doubts about DE3, but I have to say they've scored a point with me by this guy essentially calling Bioware out on the dumbing down of ME2 and DA2 (even if it was a bit of a leading question). It bodes well for DE3 if it lives up to some of things discussed.

Difficulty Levels
Somebody got an interview from someone from EM, who said that the game won't have difficulty levels, in favour of self-adjusting difficulty. This was refuted by another member of EM who gave a much clearer (and much better-sounding) answer:

Quote:

"We are indeed working on 3 difficulty levels: casual, normal and Deus Ex. We are conscious that not everybody wants the same things out of their games. Some play for the challenge, others for the narrative. We wanted players to be able to enjoy the game, regardless of their proficiency level. As for why a Deus Ex level, I believe it comes from reading the forums.
Some people were worried that we’d dumb down the game and make it too easy; that combat would prevail and overshadow the stealth aspect because players wouldn’t die with just a few bullets, especially with the introduction of health regen.Well this level has been tweaked for them. Enjoy."

3 difficulty levels: Casual, Normal and 'Deus Ex'

No word on what the Deus Ex level has, i.e. whether it has classic-style health and the full monty.

Fedorova
A new image of Fedorova, a front-up shot of the super-poly model used for the CG trailers.

New FootageClickityClickity 2, The Revenge of Clickity
A more Deus-Ex-y preview than the last, and this one even shows what they've done with the HUD so far, which I like a lot - doesn't get in the way at all. Note that Adam can still drag bodies while using a pistol with both hands... don't ask.

1. The weapon-switching system has changed since the D-Pad style E3 version. Now it seems to be a numbered dial. Return of the toolbelt? Neither version is final yet.
2. The "opening video" of the game takes place a few hours into the game. Curiously, it was said before that the game will feature no FMV sequences and will only have in-engine cutscenes. Either the guy who wrote that is confused or EM is doubling back again. Also apparently, Megan - the scientist who's captured was Adam's ex-girlfriend.
3. You get experience points for winning verbal fights and scoring headshots. These points build up to a level up Praxis point, which lets you upgrade augmentations.
4. The ever-elusive hacking minigame is described this time as a territory-control game of tug-and-war.

And now, some new footage with the HUD! Remember that it's far from final right now, so some of the elements might even be just placeholders.

I've always been wary of calling Deus Ex an RPG - I personally considered the original a shooter first and an RPG second - but when they go out of their way to play up the RPG aspects of DE3 it kind of annoys me when they throw in lame mini-game junk. It was the same stupid thing in Mass Effect - level up a stat just so you can unlock more mini-games. Drives me up the freaking wall.

Honestly, I'd rather have a minigame that is well-designed and tactically-oriented (i.e. you really are hacking or picking a lock, rather than simply matching the password or applying pressure on a pin) than no minigame at all. Deus Ex's take on interactive-based skill checks wasn't enthralling at all, and simply amounted to a click-and-wait affair; the same can be said for VtMB. Hell, at least Bethesda factored critical failures into their minigames, which made them slightly more entertaining.

I think the part that makes me cringe the most when it comes to Deus Ex is that if you were waiting for that multitool and lockpick to do its magic and something interrupted you, you lost that multitool/lockpick, because apparently the game removed it from your inventory when it initiated a lockpick/hack.

Can't remember if they retained that in Invisible War... I was too distracted by all the other things that were wrong.